Blue || Bucky Barnes

3. To The Little Guys

We stand up and walk across the dark and gloomy base to an identical cabin like the one we just came from. A small amount of light emerges from one of the windows and glows into the dark night. Dr. Erskine knocks on the door while he holds a bottle and some glasses in his hand. He opens it quickly.

"May I?" He hesitates for a moment by the door.
"Yeah." I hear Steve's familiar voice. Erskine steps through the door and nods for me to follow.
"Leia." Steve says his voice holding a fraction of confusion but his face softens in realization. I send him a small smile.

"Can't sleep?" Dr. Erskine asks Steve.
"I got the jitters, I guess." He responds as Erskine puts the glasses down on the small table. He grasps the thin mattress of the bed next to Steve's and flattens it out to sit on. I see Steve's small frame shuffle over slightly making space for me to sit next to him. After a slight hesitation I sit beside the soldier.
"Me too." Dr. Erskine agrees. I keep my mouth shut letting them go about their interaction.
"Can I ask you a question?" Steve breaks the moment of silence.
"Just one?" Erskine smiles small.
"Why me?" Steve asks.
"Leia asked the same thing. But I do suppose that is the only question that matters... This is from Augsburg. My city." Erskine says holding the bottle of liquor. "So many people forget that the first country the Nazis invaded was their own. You know after the last war, my people struggled. They felt weak. They felt small. Then Hitler comes along with the marching and the big show and the flags. And he hears of me. My work. And he finds me. And he says, "You." He says, "You will make us strong." Well, I am not interested. So he sends the head of Hydra, his research division. A brilliant scientist by the name of Johann Schmidt. Now, Schmidt is a member of the inner circle. And he is ambitious. He and Hitler share a passion for occult power and Teutonic myth. Hitler uses his fantasies to inspire his followers. But for Schmidt, it is not fantasy. For him it is real. He has become convinced that there is a great power hidden in the earth, left here by the gods, waiting to be seized by a superior man." Steve and I sit forward listening to every detail Dr. Erskine is feeding us. This guy sounds like an absolute lunatic. Erskine continues, "So when he hears about my formula and what it can do, he cannot resist. Schmidt must become that superior man."

He gave him the formula. Dr. Erskine gave a Nazi the formula that he's supposed to give us tomorrow!
"Did it make him stronger?" Steve asks.
"Yes. But there were other effects." My heart plummets to the floor with Dr. Erskine's words.
"The serum was not ready. But more important, the man." He looks between the two of us. "The serum amplifies everything that is inside, so good becomes great. Bad becomes worse." He tells us.
I keep my head forward not daring to look at Steve or Dr. Erskine. "This is why you two were chosen. Because a strong man or woman who has known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but a weak man or woman knows the value of strength. And knows compassion." The corner of Dr. Erskine's lip turns up as he again looks between the two of us.
"Thanks... I think." Steve mutters.

"Alright!" Dr. Erskine points to the glasses next to Steve and he holds them out while the doctor pours the liquid into them. "Now, whatever happens tomorrow, you two must promise me one thing." He starts, screwing the cork back into the bottle. "That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good person."
Steve hands one of the glasses to me and Dr Erskine takes one too. At that moment Steve finally looks at me and it clicks in my brain. I ran into his friend at the Stark Expo the other evening. That's where I know him from!
Steve's lip curls into a smile as he raises his glass. "To the little guys." He says and we clink out glasses together.
We all raise them to our lips and I'm just about to take a swig when Erskine's voice interrupts. "No, no! Wait, wait. What I am doing? No, you two have procedure tomorrow. No fluids." He snatches the glasses out of our hands and pours the liquid they contain into his own.
I keep my mouth sealed shut. It's a habit.
"Alright. We'll drink it after." Steve smiles.
"No, I don't have procedure tomorrow. Drink it after? I drink it now." Dr. Erskine downs the liquid and I can't help but let a small chuckle slip past my lips. "Brilliant. Get some sleep now. Leia let's go." Dr. Erskine stands up and collects the things he brought including me. I send Steve a small smile as I leave the room in tow of the doctor.